| Murder Between Friends | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Murder drama |
| Based on | a true story [1] |
| Screenplay by | Philip Rosenberg [2] |
| Directed by | Waris Hussein [3] |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mark Snow [2] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producer | David Hamburger |
| Cinematography | Robert Steadman |
| Editor | Paul Dixon |
| Running time | 96 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Release | January 10, 1994 |
Murder Between Friends is an American murder mystery television film of 1994, directed by Waris Hussein.
It is based on the true story of the murder of Janet Myers, a Louisiana woman killed in 1984 by her husband, or his best friend, or both of them.
Outline
Close friends Kerry Myers ( Stephen Lang) and Bill Fontanille ( Martin Kemp) have a huge fist and knife fight at the Myers house in New Orleans. After it, Janet Myers ( Lisa Blount) is found dead, beaten to death with a baseball bat, having spent the evening with her husband and Fontanille. Myers’s young son is also seriously injured, and Fontanille is admitted to hospital, bleeding from a stab wound to the belly. The two men accuse each other of murder, telling different stories to the police and later in court. Detective Easby ( O'Neal Compton) has some trouble with what really happened, but to begin with the police believe Myers and charge Fontanille with murder. Later, District Attorney John Thorn ( Timothy Busfield) grasps that the story is more complex and charges both men. [1] [2]
Locations
The movie was largely filmed on location in New Orleans, but some scenes take place at Los Angeles City Hall and at North Spring Street, Los Angeles. [4]
Reception
Variety applauded "skilled direction" by Hussein, relaxed performances, and an unhurried pace. It also welcomed "a subtle and deceptively simple script by Philip Rosenberg". [2]
Cast
- Stephen Lang as Kerry Myers [2]
- Martin Kemp as Bill Fontanille [2]
- Lisa Blount as Janet Myers [5]
- O'Neal Compton as Detective Pud Easby [5]
- Timothy Busfield as John Thorn, District Attorney [2]
- Karen Moncrieff as Amy Morin [5]
- Sab Shimono as Dr Lee [5]
- Nicholas Pryor as Judge Lamartine [5]
- David Lee McLain as Clerk of Court
- Alex Courtney as René Le Gallais, Defence Attorney [2]
- Stanley Anderson as Casey [5]
- Macon McCalman as Janet Myers's lawyer [6]
- Greg Almquist as Emile [6]
- Lenny Wolpe as District Attorney [6]
- Joey Zimmerman as Boy [6]
- Buster Cooper as jazz trombone [7]
- Chuck Thomas as tenor saxophone [7]
- Johnny Kirkwood as drummer [7]
Real life events
In real life, on February 24, 1984, [8] a ten-hour fight took place at the house of the Myers family at Harvey, Louisiana, just across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. Myers was left with a broken left arm and head injuries, Fontanille went to a local hospital with stab wounds, and Janet Myers was found beaten to death. Fontanille later admitted to having sex with Janet Myers the day before. [9] Questioned by the police, Fontanille’s story was that Myers had killed his wife and child and planned to put the blame on him. [10] Initially, Fontanille was charged with second degree murder, with Myers as a key witness, but at the end of the trial the jury was tied. [11] [12]
Later, both men were charged with the murder and with conspiracy. Myers waived his right to a trial by jury. Fontanille was acquitted on a charge of first-degree murder, and on April 5, 1990, was convicted of manslaughter and given a 21-year prison sentence, while a judge found Myers guilty as charged and gave him a life sentence. [10] [11]
While in the pen, Myers became the editor of The Angolite, a magazine published by the prisoners, and received an award from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. [11] In 2016, Governor John Bel Edwards commuted the sentence of Myers to thirty years, and he was released from the Angola Penitentiary on parole. [9]
The story of the murder and the men’s trials is detailed in a book by Joseph Bosco, Blood Will Tell: A True Story of Deadly Lust in New Orleans (1993). [8]
Notes
- ^ a b Murder Between Friends, themoviescene.co.uk, accessed 31 December 2022
- ^ a b c d e f g h Roberta Bernstein, "Murder Between Friends", in Variety and Daily Variety Television Reviews, 1993-1994, January 11, 1994, p. 12
- ^ a b c d Leonard Maltin, Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide (Penguin Group USA, 2000), p. 958
- ^ Filmography, moviesites.org, accessed 1 January 2023
- ^ a b c d e f “Murder Between Friends“ in TV Guide, January 1, 1994, in Vol. 42, p. 99
- ^ a b c d Alvin H. Marill, Movies Made for Television, 1964-2004: 1990-1999 (2005), p. 350
- ^ a b c Murder Between Friends, Library of Congress, accessed 31 December 2022
- ^ a b Blood Will Tell: A True Story of Deadly Lust in New Orleans (William Morrow & Company, $23, 575pp, ISBN 978-0-688-10889-2, Publishers Weekly, October 26, 1993, accessed December 31, 2022
- ^ a b Jonathan Bullington, Angola inmate set free, 3 decades after infamous Harvey murder, The Times-Picayune, NOLA.com, December 23, 2016, accessed December 31, 2022
- ^ a b "State of Louisiana v. Kerry Myers and William Fontanille No. 90-KA-539" in West's Southern Reporter: Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi (West Publishing Co., 1991), Vol. 584, 2nd series, pp. 242–246
- ^ a b c Angola prison magazine’s inmate editor to be freed, Lafayette Daily Advertiser, 2016, accessed December 31, 2022
- ^ 545 So. 2d 981 (1989) STATE of Louisiana v. Kerry MYERS and William Fontanille, justia.com, accessed January 1, 2023
